My Jams: 1970

Friends, even though the “My Jams” series is based on soul music, I couldn’t leave 1969 without acknowledging my favorite Beatle, the quiet one, George.

So…

Welcome to 1970 my dear hearts! What say you? Are you ready to embark on a new thing? I mean, have you had enough war, anger and violence? I know I have! In fact, I’m packing all that mess up and putting it away so that I can get ready for love!

Now some might say that I probably should have healed “that mess” before I put it away but NOT TODAY!

Anyway, moving on, if love is your thing too, then the 1970’s will not disappoint. Baby, in 1970, folks talked about love lost, love gained and anything else that you can imagine on the topic. Wherever your relationship fell on the aforementioned ‘love spectrum,’ 1970 had a song just for you!

To prove my point, I submit:

My Jams: 1970

“Band of Gold” by Freda Payne

Ms. Freda is giving you the ‘real’ on this one. Here she ‘channels’ a woman who poured her heart into a marriage but, alas, her dear hubby simply could NOT return the favor.

How many people (women and men) can relate to this feeling? Darlings, these hurts happen- but farther up the road happiness awaits.

“Signed Sealed Delivered” by Stevie Wonder

“Like a fool I went and stayed too long…”

Here we go again! Another one of those love games! Friends, we discussed this in “My Jams 1968.” It appears that Stevie didn’t listen to Tyrone Davis (“Can I Change My Mind”).

Ok, let me explain this one more time. If you leave, stay gone! Personally, I simply cannot do that back and forth thing.

“Love or Let Me Be Lonely” by The Friends of Distinction”

I really love this song! Whenever I listen to it, I can’t help trying to sing it’s tongue twister lyrics “I can live without love if I wanted to” …. And so on and so forth! But more than that, I live for the part at the end where they groove in harmony “Love or let me be lonely…looooove or let me be lonely…” I used to repeat that part and rock out!

“It’s A Shame” by The Spinners

Now this is one of my top 10 favorites in life! Do you feel me? Can you hear that freaking rhythm guitar with that bass just weaving all up and through? Geez, I just can’t!

Ok, I can! 😉

This one doesn’t really sound like the Spinners. Well that’s because G. C. Cameron is leading. To say that this dude was blessed with a serious vocal range is an understatement.

Unfortunately, Mr. Cameron and the Spinners ended up parting ways. After that, it usually took two Spinners to match one G. C. Cameron when singing this song. Basically, one of them stayed in the low to middle range and the other did the tweeting—that means singing falsetto y’all!

Anyway, Mr. Stevie Wonder co-wrote this jam.

“Owwww…got to, got to be a shame!”

“Precious, Precious” by Jackie Moore

This is a gorgeous song. It reminds me of “Trapped By This Thing Called Love” by Denise LaSalle- no worries; we’ll get to that diva in the next year or so.

“Precious, Precious” tells the tale of a woman who fell too hard for the wrong joker. Regardless, the groove here makes you forget all about that part!

“More Than I Can Stand” by Bobby Womack

Here’s another one of my all-time favorites. You might say that Bobby Womack very heavily contributed to the soundtrack of my life. I am sure that a lot of Baby Boomers and Gen X’ers can attest to that.

If you ever get a chance, ask my brother Tack about a natural tail whipping that he got about a Bobby Womack eight track. Yeah, that little bubble headed terror sat in the middle of the floor and pulled every inch of tape out of mama’s cassette. By the time she caught him, he was sitting in a heaping pile of brown plastic.

There was no recovering from that!

***Bonus: “Big Leg Woman With A Short Short Mini Skirt” by Israel Tolbert

I don’t even know this song but I like it because I am known for my big legs! LOL! Morris Day and the Time wrote the song “Fishnet” about me! Ok , no, they really didn’t but I like to imagine that they did 😉

Well that’s enough of my foolishness!

And so, the time has come for me to say farewell to 1970. As always, this list is not all inclusive.

I can remember 1970 music in “real time”. A lot of the previous years, I learned to appreciate in later years. 1970 was also the year I went from third to fourth grade. It was the year we integrated our schools in Randolph Co Ga. (some years after Brown v BOE). 1970 was the year we got “Patches” one of my favorite canines. There was also a song by Clarence Carter called “Patches”. During this time, songs actually told stories. The story told by Clarence in “Patches” mesmerized 9-10 year old me.

The Jackson 5 (not the Jacksons LOL) had a hot year and I loved every song. I could relate to Michael. He was only a couple of years older than I was. I remember when a rumor circulated that he’d died. I think I cried. “Stop! the love you save may be your own. Darling take it slow, or one day you’ll be all alone!”

Then Michael sang, “I’ll be there!”. He had that girl’s back for sure!

Dionne Warwick asked the medical question of her fans,”What do you get when you kiss a guy? then she answered her own question. “You get enough germs to catch pneumonia. After you do, he’ll never phone ya. I’ll never fall in love again?”

Yes sir! Patches was one of those good ole story telling songs. I loved those kind to. Clarence told some good ones.

I know this is not soul, but I used to love Jim Stafford; he used to tell some good song-stories (“I don’t like spiders and snakes…”). Also, when I was taking violin, Charlie Daniels did “Devil went down to Georgia.” Boy I used to want to play the violin like Charlie’s devil played the fiddle. Do you remember that loud screeching sound he made with the bow? That was the business!

By the way, not that you or anybody reading this blog cares, but the difference between a violin and a fiddle is the bridge. On a violin it is curved but on a fiddle it is flat. Fiddlers, correct me if I am wrong 🙂

Yeppers! Loved that Charlie Daniel’s song and for my money…The Devil won!!!! LOL
Thanks for the violin v fiddle information. I didn’t know that. I thought the only difference was whether the it was being referred to by a country person or not. (Country=fiddle, Citified=violin). LOL

Thanks. I was just looking at your IPod shuffle thinking about Boogie Down Productions KRS One and the late DJ Scott LaRock. ” the bride is over !” Also Diva Phyllis Hyman- “You know how to love me”. I’m like that T. Wayne is the bomb when it comes to music!